How to use ASUS MB168B as main monitor

Question

I am trying to help a friend with their monitor. They use a Dell OptiPlex 3000 and an ASUS MB168B as thier monitor. They said that the display seemed zoomed in and when they went into display settings they saw it said they had two monitors, despite only having one. In an attempt to fix the issue, they set the main monitor to the ghost monitor and now are receiving no signal. This monitor uses a USB 3.0 Micro-B cable for both video and power, it has no other ports and connects to the PC via USB A. I brought over a second monitor and connected to it with displayport and was able to get video on both monitors. However, the ASUS monitor only works when the displayport is plugged in as well. I set the ASUS as main monitor, tried duplicate, extend, nothing works. It uses displaylink so I updated the drivers and reset the graphics driver as well. I have it plugged into the blue usb ports in the back but no other usb ports work either. This also does not work across any accounts we sign in with. Has any one else encountered this?

Answer 1

Hi,

Based on your description, when you remove the monitor connected via DisplayLink, you lose video on both monitors. Is that correct?

Did you try removing all GPU drivers, including DisplayLink, with DDU to reset the video settings?

Q&A Assistance is correct. Regarding the DisplayLink video driver, it won't use the desktop's iGPU or DGPU driver. You can configure it for game or application rendering to use iGPU in Start Menu > Settings > System > Display > Graphics. Each application chooses which GPU to use, which is probably already selected as iGPU.

Thanks

Answer 2

The ASUS MB168B is a USB-attached DisplayLink monitor. Windows treats it as an additional display driven by a USB video adapter, not as the primary GPU output. The behavior described (needing the DisplayPort monitor connected before the ASUS shows anything, “ghost” monitor, odd default modes) matches known limitations of USB-attached displays.

Key points and actions:

1. Understand the USB monitor limitation
   • USB video adapters and USB monitors (like the MB168B) are enumerated after Windows initializes the main video subsystem.
   • Because of this, Windows assumes the USB display is an extra monitor plugged into a running system and may default to Extend/Duplicate or other multi-monitor modes, not as the sole primary display.
   • This is a known behavior for USB-attached displays and is not handled the same way as HDMI/DisplayPort outputs from the GPU.
2. Use a GPU-driven output as the true primary
   • Keep at least one standard GPU output (HDMI/DisplayPort/VGA) connected as the primary display on the OptiPlex.
   • Configure that GPU-driven monitor as the main display in Settings > System > Display.
   • Then attach the ASUS MB168B via USB and use Windows logo key + P to select Extend or Duplicate as needed.
3. Fix the “no signal” / ghost main-display issue
   • When the only “main” display is the ghost/USB display, the logon and early boot UI may render to a display that is not actually active.
   • Reconnect a standard monitor (as already done with the DisplayPort monitor), sign in, and in Settings > System > Display:
     • Identify displays and set the GPU-driven monitor as “Make this my main display.”
     • Ensure the ASUS is set to “Extend desktop to this display” (not “Disconnect this display”).
   • If the ASUS still does not show correctly, press Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B to reset the graphics driver and then re-check the display layout.
4. General external monitor troubleshooting
   • Confirm the ASUS works as an additional monitor on another PC to rule out hardware failure.
   • Make sure Windows is fully updated and DisplayLink drivers are current.
   • If the ASUS appears but is blank or misconfigured, use Windows logo key + P and choose Extend or Duplicate, not PC screen only.
5. If configuration keeps reverting or remains unstable
   • This is consistent with the known issue where USB-attached displays do not behave like native GPU outputs and may not retain expected configurations across reboots.
   • If the system must run with only a single display, use a monitor connected directly to a GPU video port (HDMI/DisplayPort/VGA) as the sole primary monitor instead of relying on the USB-only ASUS.

If problems persist after these steps, file feedback with full details (PC model, connection type, steps taken) using Feedback Hub so the behavior can be analyzed further.

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References:

• Troubleshoot external monitor connections in Windows
• When using USB-attached monitor, display configuration may not be retained after reboot